Audiobooks Are Helping Me Catch up on Hindi Literature: Radhika

Radhika Apte on acting with her voice, storytelling traditions and living her life.

Radhika Apte at the launch of Audible India.

(Photo: Yogen Shah)

Radhika Apte is making her foray into the world of digital audiobooks with Hussain Zaidi’s Mafia Queens of Mumbai that also features Rajkummar Rao and Kalki Koechlin.

The audiobook is a production of Audible, a subsidiary of Amazon that’s launching premium digital spoken content in India. Ahead of it’s release, Radhika spoke to us about listening to stories as a child, the importance of audiobooks and her seemingly hectic life.

Too caught up to read the story? Listen to it instead.

Do you like listening to podcasts and audiobooks? I had heard you were an avid listener of Audible and now you are a part of it.

Radhika Apte: I discovered it very recently, so I’m not an avid listener yet. I used to listen to books being read as a child. I remember listening to Pu La (Purushottam) Deshpande’s  readings of his own books. I had cassettes and I used to listen to it over and over again and it is one of my most beautiful childhood memories. I got to know about Audible through a friend of mine who reads a lot through audiobooks in LA.

Then when they approached me, I was very excited also because I had heard so much and would love to be a part of it. Voice is such a powerful thing for an actor that I wanted to explore it more and I wanted to practise more and the first time I read it also, I was like “Can I be reading more?” and “Can I do more?”

And then it was just basically like a new time found in my life - all the journeys I was making, like in the car, in the Bombay (now Mumbai) traffic or whichever city in India. This time became most precious and I was looking forward to that time. Because I knew the moment I get into the car, I am going to hear the next chapter of this book. So it was very exciting. It’s like how you have a series you want to watch, you’re like “Oh shit! I have to go to work and I am going to come back and watch it”.

Radhika Apte, actor

Similarly, I was actually looking forward to this. And then when they approached me I was very excited. Voice is such a powerful thing for an actor that I wanted to explore it more and I wanted to practice more and I was actually just telling them that the first time I read it also, I was like “Can I be reading more? Can I do more?”

Was it difficult?

RA: It is, I think. See, basically you know in films or theatre, we have so much of visual aid, right? A lot of what you wear, how you look, what is your surrounding, what is your frame, where it is set, what the other people are doing, how they are acting, what are their performances, what is the pause or silence or the little bit of an expression or is it a close shot or a wide shot? So everything contributes to what you are going to see and hear. Here, the imagination is up to the listener. You are creating that, so how you nuance everything, how you create that as an actor, how you narrate the story, what you do, where you pause, where your voice quality is going to decide how the imagination is and where you can lead it. So it’s a very individual experience, the performance is very individual. It is like one on one. They are beautiful readers of course, this is just the beginning. And I still have to practice. But it’s an art. And I really enjoyed it. And I know I am not good at it because it’s like the first time I have read it and there are a lot of times you are like“Uff! It is over and I want to do it again”. And I hope I get the opportunity to do it again.

Do you think these audiobooks resonate with people, since we have grown up listening to our grandparents telling us stories?

RA: I think storytelling is very important in India. So many stories were not even written, have just been passed on from generation to generation. So with a country with such history and culture of storytelling I think this will go down really well. I remember, as a child there was this Marathi cassette called ‘Chotya Chotya’ that I used to listen to as a child also. So that culture has always been there. And it just suddenly disappeared because of this whole technology and you know, bombardment of visuals. So this is very meditative and a very private and individual experience - you going into your own imagination and creating your own world.

This world specifically is based on Hussain Zaidi’s book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai. Have you read the book?

RA: No, I had not read the book. Because of this, I read the book.

So what did you make of it?

RA: Oh my god! It is incredible. It’s basically the time of Bombay that I was not aware of, I had not heard of. I read this, I mean Gangubai - her story. In her misery of life, how she stood up for herself and found support and went shoulder to shoulder with this man. It was incredible. From there and going to politicians to speak and it is just incredible and these stories are just amazing. And actually, I say it with complete embarrassment, there are many Indian authors that I have read, I have read a lot of Marathi literature growing up, but have never read Hindi literature. Though, I am very slow at reading Hindi, I am very fast at reading Marathi.

To be honest with you, when I was very young my maama<i> </i>(uncle) used to live in Bombay, and at that time, they used to talk about these gangs and gang fights and gang wars. He used to live in Lokhandwala. One day I remember I was waiting there at the window like “Is there going to be a gang fight?” Of course I was a child! But what I am saying is that I was completely unaware of this Bombay. So this book really builds that world, especially the women.

My god! I read Gangubai’s story. In the misery of life, how she stood up for herself and found support and went shoulder to shoulder with this man. It was incredible. From there and going to politicians to speak and it is just incredible and these stories are just amazing. And actually, I say it with complete embarrassment, there are many Indian authors that I have not read, I have read a lot of Marathi literature growing up, but have never read Hindi literature. It’s probably because I am very slow at reading Hindi though I am very fast at reading Marathi.

But it’s also the language you think in, right?

RA: Exactly, so now when they start Hindi books, I am actually looking forward to reading and listening to more Hindi literature because that is something I feel like I have really missed out on.

Was it difficult to convert the book into a podcast?

RA: It was just different. Everybody would read it or understand it differently. So how do you decide? But then it is your interpretation, how you perceive it.

Radhika Apte, Rajkummar Rao and Kalki Koechlin at the launch of Audible India.(Photo: Yogen Shah)

Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte in PadMan.(Photo courtesy: Twitter)

Finally, you have been working so much! I have seen you in films, digital space and now on this. Is there ever a fear that you will burn out?

RA: First of all, I am taking a whole month off. I am going away to London and I am not working and then my next film starts end of January. So I have a long time to vegetate. And secondly, everybody think this year I have so much work, but only two films I shot for this year. And both were foreign films. Ghoul, I shot two years ago; Sacred games, we barely shot for 10-12 days because my role was so small; Lust Stories I shot for three days; Padman, I shot last year in March and Andhadhun barely a few days last year and a few days this year. So that’s why I am like “Why am I having a good day!” I’m not! I have barely worked. I really need to work more. So if you actually put yourself in my shoes, I haven’t really worked.

Saif Ali Khan and Radhika Apte in Sacred Games.(Photo Courtesy: Netflix)

So, no to the memes then?

RA : Ya absolutely (laughs). The kind of publicity they gave me was great, but it is not true. I wish it was true but it is not.

Do you prefer that? Work a lot and less of leisure?

RA : No, I mean I prefer both. I want to and like to work my ass off but I did not get the opportunity to do that. The only time I got to do that was when I was shooting my international film Wedding Guests because it was shot continuously, but I have barely shot this year. I have only been doing promotions.